Manufacture of textile products



Patented June 14, 1938 UNITED STATES 2,120,551 MANUFACTURE OF TEXTILE PRODUCTS Henry Dreyfus, London, England No Drawing. Application May 22, 1936, Serial No. 81,265. In Great Britain June 13, 1935 13 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of textile products, and particularly to the manufacture of yarns, ribbons and similar textile products exhibiting crinkled, crimped or similar efiects.

I have discovered that by subjecting filaments, yarns, ribbons and similar textile materials to treatment with swelling agents under such conditions that the swelling effect on the materials on one side of a medial longitudinal plane is greater than that on the other side, the materials may be caused to curl; and crinkled, crimped, or similar products, hereinafter referred to as crinkled products, may thus be obtained. P The treatment may be such that the curl is in the same direction along the whole length of the products, but particularly valuable results are obtained when the materials are caused to curl first in one direction and then in another, particularly if these changes of direction follow each other at relatively short intervals, since in this manner products having a crinkle resembling that of wool and capable of yielding a very valuable spun yarn may be obtained.

The process of the present invention may be applied to materials of a homogeneous nature having the same composition throughout their cross-section, but it is particularly applicable to materials of a heterogeneous nature, for example yarns containing continuous filaments or short fibres of diiferent materials, and is especially valuable when applied to continuous filaments or short fibres which are composed of a core of one material, for example regenerated cellulose or cellulose acetate, which is non-uniformly coated with another material having different properties with respect to the swelling agent, for example cellulose acetate or regenerated cellulose respectively. In the case of yarns and similar materials composed of a number of filaments, fibres or other components, it is preferable that the non-uniform swelling efiect should be produced on individual components, though crinkled products may also be obtained by a non-uniform swellingaction on the material as a whole.

Numerous methods are available for the manufacture of the products of the present invention. Thus, the non-uniform action of the swelling agent may be produced by applying a resist to one side of a number of' filaments or yarns travelling in parallel formation between suitable feed and take-up devices, e. g. by passing them in light contact with a wick supplied with the resist, drying them, then passing them through a bath containing the swelling agent, preferably under such conditions that the materials are free to contract under the influence of the agent, and finally removing the agent. Alternatively, the materials may be passed in contact with two longitudinally grooved rollers. supplied with a resist, the position of the rollers, the spacing of the grooves on the rollers and the other conditions being such that the first roller applies-the resist at intervals to one side of the materials and the second roller applies the resist to the other side of the materials at portions intermediate between the portions to which the resist is first applied. The materials thus treated may then be dried and subjected to treatment with a swelling agent as described above. In this manner crinkled filaments or yarns having a wave form may be obtained, which curl first in one direction and then in the other. Such materials may be formed into staple fibre and spun to yield a spun yarn of high covering power and wool-like appearance, particularly if the lengths of successive resisted and unresisted portions are small, for example A, A or even less, so that the "wave length is also small.

A further method which may be employed to efiect uneven action of a swelling agent consists in impregnating the materials with a swelling agent, preferably under such conditions that it has. little or no swelling action on the materials, and then subjecting them to conditions such that an uneven swelling action is produced. Thus, cellulose acetatestaple fibres carried in a thin layer on an endless band may be impregnated, e. g. by spraying, with a solution of a suitable swelling agent, e. g. acetone or methylene ethylene ether, in such concentration that at the temperature of application it has little or no swelling action, and may then be passed under and close to a horizontal plate which is main tained at a high temperature so that an uneven action of the swelling agent is produced. After passage under the plate the materials may be treated to remove swelling agent under such conditions that it has little or no effect on the materials, for example by evaporation with cold air or by washing with a suitable solvent maintained at a relatively low temperature.

The methods describedin the preceding paragraphs are applicable to the treatment of both homogeneous and also heterogeneous materials.

The present invention, however, is particularly concerned with the manufacture of products by processes wherein the non-uniform swelling is not due to the conditions of treatment with the swelling agent, but is due to the fact that the matheir composition on one side of a longitudinal medial plane is different from that on the other. Such materials may be obtained by applying to, or forming in or on, a core of one substance, a second substance having a different reaction from that of the core substance to the swelling agent to be employed, and carrying out the application or formation under such conditions that nonuniform materials of the above character are obtained. Such materials may be produced in various ways. For example, materials having a basis of regenerated cellulose which have been intermittently treated on opposite sides with a resist, as described above, may be passed through a bath containing a solution of a primary or secondary cellulose acetate in a suitable solvent and may then be dried and the resist removed. In this manner materials containing regenerated cellulose and cellulose acetate which are of nonuniform composition through their cross-section may be obtained. Again; a solution of a suitable substance may be applied alternately first to one side-and then to the other of filaments or other textile materials, for example by means of the longitudinally grooved rollers described above, or materials having a basis of a saponifiable cellulose ester may be treated with a saponifying paste by means of a similar apparatus, so that a material is obtained which is saponified alternately first on one side and then on the other. Again, an esterification medium may be applied in a similar manner to a cotton yarn or a regenerated cellulose yarn, so that a material having an intermittent content of a cellulose ester on each side is obtained. On treating any of the above materials with a swelling agent for the substance applied to or formedin or on the core, crinkling may be produced.

When bundles of substantially parallel continuous filaments or twisted natural or artificial yarns are treated according to the'present invention, they may be subjected to an operation in order to obtain a product in which the crinkle is broken up",'i. e. the crinkles in the individual filaments or fibres are displaced longitudinally with relation to each other. This may be effected in the case of bundles of continuous filaments or threads made of continuous filaments by sub jecting themto a twist or further twist or by reducing the .degree of twist and, if necessary, carrying the reduction of twist through the neutral point of no twist and effecting a twist in the opposite direction. Similar methods may be employed in the case of natural or artificial yarns made of short lengths of fibres, or, alternatively, or in addition, in this case the yarns may be drawn down so as to produce a slippage of individual fibres over each other; and then further twisted if necessary. The operation may be effected after the crinkle has been produced or even before its production, when the crinkling is due to non-uniformity in the materials. Thus a cellulose acetate material which has been treated with a resist as described above may be subconverted into yarns by processes such as are described in U. S. applications S. Nos. 726,264 filed 18th May, 1934, and 23,804 filed 28th May, 1935. Alternatively yarns of non-uniform composition or non-uniformly treated with a resist may be formed into staple fibres or spun yarns and then treated to produce the crinkle.

The present invention is particularly concerned with the manufacture of artificial textile products having a basis of cellulose acetate and a nonuniform content of cellulose. It is, however, also applicable to many other types of textile products, both natural and artificial, e. g. yarns having a basis of cotton or natural silk, a basis or coating of regenerated cellulose, fibroin, or of organic derivatives of cellulose other than cellulose acetate, e. g. cellulose propionate, butyrate,. nitroacetate and other esters and mixed esters, methyl, ethyl'and benzyl celluloses and other ethers or mixed ethers and ether-esters, e. g. ethyl cellulose acetate and oxy-ethyl cellulose acetate, albuminous compounds and polymerized vinyl compounds. As examples of heterogeneous products may be mentioned cellulosic materials having'a coating of albuminous compounds and cellulose acetate materials coated with a cellulose ether or with nitrocellulose.

'As examples of swelling agents which may be employed may be mentioned acetone, dioxane, methylene ethylene ether and ethylene and methylene chlorides for cellulose acetate and other organic derivatives of .cellulose, a mixture of alcohol and ether for nitrocellulose, solutions of caustic soda, zinc chloride and thiocyanates for cellulosic materials and of metallic salts, e. g. lithium chloride, for albuminous substances.

If desired, the products of the present invention may be treated with synthetic resins or other suitable substance in order to fix the crinkle obtained. Processes of this nature are described in U. S. application S. No. 71,458 filed 28th March, 1936, to which reference is made in this connection.

The following examples are given to illustrate the invention:-

Example 1 A number of cellulose acetate yarns in the form of a sheet are passed in contact with fluted rollers which supply saponifying medium, .e. g. a paste containing sodium hydroxide, to the yarns, one roller being above the sheet and the other roller being below it. The arrangement of the rollers is such that the saponifying medium is applied to each side of the yarns in portions about A" long spaced apart about along the length of the yarns, the pattern on one side being displaced longitudinally with-respect to that on the other so that each portion of the yarn which has saponifying medium on one side is free from saponifying medium on the other.

After application of the saponifying medium the .7

, Example 2 l l A sheet of cellulose acetate yarns is padded alternately on each side with a suitable resist, for

exampleshellac, by means of an apparatus simn as ilar to that employed in Example 1. The yarn is then crinkled by passing it through a suitable swelling medium, for example a to solution of methylene chloride in benzene. On emerging from the crinkling medium the methylene chloride and benzene are removed, and the yarn is then treated to removethe shellac, after which it may be converted into staple fibre or spun yarn.

Having described my invention what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

1. Process for the production of crinkle effects on yarns and similar textile materials, which comprises swelling them under such conditions that the swelling efiect on the materials on one side of a medial longitudinal plane is greater than that on the other side.

2. Process according to claim 1, wherein heterogeneous materials are treated.

3. Process for the production of crinkle effects on yarns and similar textile materials, which comprises effecting a non-uniform swelling on opposite sides of a medial longitudinal plane of yarns and similar textile materials having a composition on one side of the plane which is difierent from that on the other side by subjecting the materials to treatment with a swelling medium.

4. Process for the production of crinkle effects on yarns and similar textile materials which comprises efiecting a non-uniform swelling on opposite sides of a medial longitudinal plane of yarns and similar textile materials which contain cellulose and organic derivatives of cellulose and have a composition on one side of the plane which is different from that on the other side by subjecting the materials to treatment with a swelling medium.

5. Process for the production of crinkle effects on yarns and similar textile materials which comprises effecting a non-uniform swelling on opposite sides of a medial longitudinal plane of yarns and similar textile materials which have a basis of an organic derivative of cellulose and a content of regenerated cellulose on one side of the plane which is different from that on the other side by subjecting the materials to treatment with a swelling medium.

6. Process for the production of crinkle effects on yarns and similar textile materials which comprises effecting a non-uniform swelling on opposite sides of a medial longitudinal plane of yarns and similar textile materials which have a basis of cellulose acetate and a content of regenerated cellulose on one side of the plane which is difierent from that on the other side bysubjecting the materials to treatment with a swelling medium.

7. Process for the production of crinkle effects on yarns and similar textile materials, which comprises in either order the steps of swelling them under such conditions that the swelling efiect on the materials on one side of a medial longitudinal plane is greater than that on the other side, and subjecting the materials to an operation such that crinkle in the crinkled prod: ucts is broken up.

8. Process for the production of crinkle effects on yarns and similar textile materials, which comprises in either order the steps of effecting 'a non-uniform swelling on opposite sides of a medial longitudinal plane of yarns and similar textile materials having a composition on one side of the plane which is dilferent from that on the other side by subjecting the materials to treatment with a swelling medium, and subjecting the materials to an operation such that crinkle in the crinkled products is broken up.

9. Process for the production of crinkle effects .on yarns and similar textile materials, which opposite sides of a medial longitudinal plane of yarns and similar textile materials having a composition on one side of the plane which is different from that on the other side by subjecting the materials to treatment with a swelling medium, and subjecting the crinkled materials to treatment with resins or other suitable substances in order to fix the crinkle obtained.

11. Process for the production of crinkle eifects on yarns and similar textile materials, which comprises in either order the steps of swelling them under such conditions that the swelling effect on the materials on one side of a medial longitudinal plane is greater than that on the other side, and subjecting the materials to an operation such that crinkle in the crinkled products is broken up, and after crinkling subjecting the crinkled materials to treatment in order to fix the crinkle obtained.

12. Process for the production of crinkle efiects on yarns and similar textile materials, which comprises in either order the steps of swelling them under such conditions that the swelling effect on the materials on one side of a medial longitudinal plane is greater than that on the other side, and converting the materials. into staple fibre or spun yarn.

13. Process for the production of crinkle efiects on yarns and similar textile materials, which comprises in either order the steps of effecting a non-uniform swelling on opposite sides of a medial longitudinal plane of yarns and similar textile materials having a composition on one side of the plane which is difierent from that on the other side by subjecting the materials to treatment with a swelling medium, and converting the materials into staple fibre or spun yarn.

HENRY DREYEUS. 

